Embryo Banking Support Thread / PGS wait

[ForeverAintEnough]

Hi all, I’ve just name changed but I’ve been on here loads and chatting to many of you under different user names ( irrational fear of being outed!). I wondered if there was interest in a ‘no transfer happening’ group? So those doing embryo banking or PGS or whatever.

I’ve just done one round of embryo banking and found the normal threads difficult with discussion of hoping for a Christmas pregnancies etc.

We are unfortunately taking the long way round with 3 rounds and no transfer. It looks like my first transfer might not be until June 2021.

If anyone wants to jump on feel free!

About us: Me 34, DH 36, TTC 3 years. Both male and female issues. x3 rounds of IVF all failed. Moved clinic to Lister for 3 rounds of embryo banking and PGS. One round of embryo banking just finished with x3 blasts sent off for PGS testing.

@janefx40 - my consultation was with Dr Sapna. I felt she was aware that they triggered me too late and now she said the only thing they would change in another cycle is trigger me a day earlier. What a pity.
Thank you for your kind encouraging words as always .

@islandstars
I agree 12 cycles are a lot, 12 would be the absolute maximum amount of cycles I would do [that's the final figure in my head]. At least then I would be able to move on in peace knowing I have given it my all. I would break it down into 3 cycle batches - see how I get along at each stage.

Right now, I would be happy to get a single euploid embryo from 3 cycles. My expectations are low.

@janefx40

How long did your three back to back egg banking cycles take altogether?

Thank you @Ivfhoper:) yeah , we all struggle a lot, and when the success arrives for someone, it gives a lot of hope! If I understood correctly, you had a terrible experience at argh (god, that number of cetrotide injections...). Have you decided to go to CRGH then? My experience with them and UCLH was very good. Regarding back to back cycle, it is better to have the bleed after the eggs collection, plus another one 28 days later, which would be the day 1 for the following cycle. That's what the Drs told me. Good luck for your coming appointment!
Finally growing is strange @Janefx40, I have never been that far with my previous pregnancies. It feels nice finally!
Take care all xxx

@Ivfhoper I did do 3 literally back-to-back. They give you noresthisterone after egg collection to regulate the cycle so it was literally June, July, August but I am 44. I think if I was younger I would have had breaks in between as my body might have responded better. At my age there is no time!

Xxx

@janefx40
Thank you for confirming that you were permitted to do back to back cycles. Do you have a Low AMH? I wonder whether I will be allowed to do a back to back cycle? My only issue appears to be low egg reserve - everything else is fine.

@Sophfr17

Thank you for your kindness. I do have an appointment with CRGH on Thursday, I am pretty sure that I will go ahead with them.

I did have quite a difficult time at ARGC, my LH was surging [ovaries were desperate to release eggs] but ARGC would not allow me to trigger, I ended up having all those cetrotide injections. I was sat in their waiting room all day and intermittently going into the injecting room and injecting my tummy on request. I had three/four lots of injections that day. It was horrific.

I still struggle to understand why they did this, the cynic in me believes they wanted to do a "batch" collection with other patients - if they triggered me when my body was ready they would not have been able to fit me in neatly into their egg collection window with three other patients. They may have had to collect the eggs from me in the evening for example outside their timetable. So all this spiel about being bespoke, personalised and patient-led is not really true - they have their own procedures and protocols but because they ring patients every day we are almost fooled into believing that it is bespoke.

I began speaking to another lady who was cycling at the same time as me. She had a low ovarian reserve like me but was slightly older. When I discussed her stims with her - they were identical to mine! So much for individual instructions.

I just don't think they are actually as bespoke as they make out to be.

Also on the day of transfer they suddenly moved me to their other clinic. They have 3 different addresses - I think they move patients and files around - [all files are paper! why in this day and age?!?]. Their headline figures are not all what they seem.

@Ivfhoper you had a really hard time at ARGC and you have every right to feel furious. I did a cycle at Guys which was disastrous - for balance I should say that against the odds it actually worked and gave us our DD - but that was no thanks to them. They forgot to give me 2 essential drugs which meant that if I had a transfer I would have 95% chance of miscarriage. I only realised because I was reading up on the trigger drug they gave me. I actually screamed when I realised what they had done. I got in touch and they took measures to correct but it was later than normal for administering the meds and no one knew if it would work. We froze the good embryo because they didn't think I could carry a child after that but transferred one that wasn't freezable just for emotional reasons really. Anyway it worked but no thanks to them - and I still feel furious - if it wasn't for my own research my DD would have been miscarried.

Having said all that ARGC aren't usually so rubbish. You've been super unlucky and that isn't fair. And I know they lost a consultant fairly recently so it's possible they are over stretched. But my experience with them has been very different to yours.

You should definitely switch clinics though - so much of this process is about having as much peace of mind as possible with the steps you took. It's important to have confidence in your clinic. I hope you have a better experience at your next clinic.

The experience you had at ARGH seems very awful @Ivfhoper :( I think I would change the clinic too.
I hope your appointment today will go well! My Dr from UCLH and who works also at CRGH told me in the past that with a low AMH, he preferred me to have a full month between each cycle, but let's see what he/she will say!
S.

@Janefx40 @Sophfr17

I had the consultation yesterday and it was good.

The Dr said that I can do a back to back cycle. Dr said it sounds like I was having far too many medicines during my first cycle and this may have affected the egg quality.

I feel so defeated at the moment - I really feel like there is no point carrying on. My mind tells me that they are unlikely to find any good eggs.

I need to develop the mental strength and resilience to carry on. What to do?

@Ivfhoper how are you feeling? Is there any things you could incorporate in your day that might help with anxiety? It's such a hard time. I'm glad they said you could do back to back.

I had my egg collection last week in Cyprus (1 night stay) and somehow they managed to collect 7 eggs, all mature. I've only ever had 3 and 1 mature eggs collected in the first 2 cycles, so this was a shock. And this cycle was back to back - as in, I restarted stims on the first bleed post EC not first actual period.

I was told that this is quite a normal response to women with low ovarian reserve (AMH 4.6). I hope this gives you some confidence.

However, of my 7, only 3 fertilised (husband has really crap sperm). But all 3 made it to day 3 so have been frozen. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions this last week.

Roll on next round of stims...

@2020toast well done! That is a great result from your cycle. You must be really pleased. When do you start the next round?

So pleased you had a good experience x

Why do you say that @Ivfhoper? Did CRGH tell you that excess medications impacted the quality of all your eggs or of the eggs from this cycle only? I would be tempted to follow their advises. It is also good that you can do back to back cycles, as you wanted. I know it is hard, but you are full of resources I'm sure of that. You are already resilient trust me, as we all are, considering how much we have been and are struggling with in the past and present. Take some time to think about it, but don't lose hope. Ivf is very challenging, physically, mentally, socially. You will get there.
Congratulations on this great result @2020toast! You must be happy about it!! Good luck for the next coming cycle!
How are you @IslandStars? Is the lining ok^^? The FET should be happening soon right? Thinking of you xxxx

@Sophfr17 Had my day 8 scan today thanks, lining is 7.2mm and triple layer, so not taking estrogen hasn’t made much difference. I’m hoping I get to at least 8mm by transfer though, as I’d feel happier with that, since it’s my last embryo. Nice not to be taking progynova though! I’m waiting to ovulate and will rescan Wednesday. Hope everything is well with you

@2020toast Great result, glad the back to back cycles went well.

That's already a very good lining for day 8 @IslandStars! I'm happy you were off the oestrogen, the more natural the better :) I suppose you will start progesterone (I had pessaries and injections twice daily) once ovulation is confirmed. Good luck for the last days 🙂 I am fine thanks, week 19 now, next scan on Thursday! Every two weeks is stressful a little because of the twin twin transfusion syndrome but it is nice because I can see them often! The team at the FMU is amazing, I feel very lucky in a way.
Take care xxxx

@Sophfr17 Thanks, they will set my day zero once I’ve ovulated, then I start cyclogest and pred. After ET I’ll have clexane and Lubion.

You are coping so amazingly well with such a complicated pregnancy. You’re right, it must be lovely to see the babies every 2 weeks though Glad the team are looking after you all, good luck for Thursday x

You seem to have a good treatment plan in place @IslandStars! I am hoping so so much it will work for you :)

That's nice of you, I follow the protocol too, there is not much I can do, i know the risks of transfusion issue and of clots from my side. But I take my medications and I am quite peaceful I must admit, finally!
Take care xxx

Keeping all my fingers crossed for you @IslandStars

Hello ladies
I have fallen down the google trap today and keep coming back here as you all seem to know what you are talking about.

We are just about to do our first cycle of PG testing as I recently had a TFMR at 24 weeks as our baby had unbalanced chromosomes, since found out I am the carrier of a balanced translocation - life sucks! To save on some of the heartache we have decided to try PG testing privately at the Lister clinic whilst waiting for NHS funding at Guys and of course, trying naturally. I am completely new to IVF and was looking for advice...I just wondered why we hadn't been suggested to bank and instead are doing IVF, testing then "hopefully" a FET. I am 35 with an AMH of 16.6 with a follicle count at the scan of 23 and have been prescribed for our first round of IVF Menopur 150. I must confess, none of these numbers make any sense to me and are just digits. My question is, do you think we should bank? I am in so much fear that we will end up with 0 healthy embryos and the process takes sooooooo long would it save time to bank? but I suppose banking or not, that fear won't go?

@sophfr17

The CRGH doctor said the medication impacted the quality of the eggs retrieved in this round. Not all the eggs. Thank you for speaking some sense into me. The anxiety just drives me mental.

In terms of my anxiety, I did speak to my GP and have been prescribed some Sertraline - this is thankfully helping a lot.

I have my first appointment with the nurse at CRGH on 24.9.21 - and the back to back egg collections start after that.

@alwaysworried247

You are in a much better position than me - numerically speaking. I just turned 33, I have an AMH of 3.4pmol/l and I had 7 follicles.

IVF is a numbers game - the more eggs they retrieve the more likely they are to find a "euploid" i.e. good egg. The quality of eggs depend on age, and to some extent lifestyle - the Drs say.

There is a good book called "It starts with the Egg" - to improve egg quality.

I will pray for you to get your good egg. In the meantime, if your anxiety becomes unbearable - please speak to your GP. Mine became unbearable and now I am taking sertraline [very very low risk for pregnancy] and this has made me better able to deal with the challenges ahead.

Everyone on this blog is helpful and supportive.

@2020toast

Thank you for your kind words and support. Well done on your egg collection!

I am going to incorporate exercise - 1 hour of walking each day and deep breathing to manage my anxiety levels.

@Shamoo Thank you, kind of you to check in 😊 Hope you are keeping well.

Had my day 10 scan today and lining is up to 8.9mm, so I have transfer booked for Wedsnesday! Now all the other implantation meds start, but this natural approach with no estrogen has been and nice and straight forward, thankfully.

@Alwaysworried247 Good luck with your cycle, have heard positive things about Lister. Your numbers are nothing to worry about, they seem really good to me. So sorry you lost your baby at such a late stage. I think Dr concern is more over the chromosome issues than you doing IVF for infertility reasons as such, so maybe banking is not so crucial right now.

At your age and with your numbers, you will hopefully get a decent number of eggs/embryos and find a couple of euploids. As you’re entitled to NHS funding, personally I would just do one private round now. It often takes the first cycle to work out the best protocol, so you don’t want to pay too much privately if you will be funded soon.

@Ivfhoper it is normal to be anxious. I am glad you could get sertraline too, it will keep you from being too anxious and it is absolutely safe. The first appointment is coming soon, that's great! You will be in good hands over there:)
@Alwaysworried247, welcome! I am very sorry for your loss, it must have been terrible :( .... regarding ivf and PGS, you do have very good numbers! And embryo banking is a real chance for you. I suppose your Drs have calculated the genetic risks already? 1 in 4 I suppose may be euploids, thus banking would be good for you, maybe 2 cycles depending on the numbers collected after stimulation. My cousine had the same issue, she did ivf and she had a boy. Also, the process is not that long to be honest, it can be hard, but if your body is reactive it can be smooth. I know it is scary, but it is a chance for you :)
@IslandStars things are progressing well I can see! You seem to be in the best state of mind :) that's great!
Xxx

Thank you @Ivfhoper, I will look at the book. I am currently taking the Ultimate IVF vitamins from Zita West, no idea what they do but popping them like mad :)

Thank you @IslandStars, we actually purchase a multi package from access for two rounds as one round with the Lister direct is only £1000 cheaper than two rounds with Access Finance so it made sense.

@Sophfr17 thank you. Yes, our main issue is this chromosome one. I just cannot believe I have it. I have a healthy DD from a previous relationship so just assumed having another child would be easy but after a MC and then our TFMR I realise that assumption could not have been further from the truth. Sadly, our stats for a healthy pregnancy are the same with IVF as it is Natural but at least with IVF it will take some of the heartache out as we wont need to wait for 12 weeks to have the baby tested. Congratulations on your pregnancy, wishing you a happy, healthy and stressfree 9 months!

Hello everyone.

Welcome @Alwaysworried247 I'm so sorry for your loss 💐. It sounds like PGS testing will be a great option for you and hopefully remove some of the heartache. I've heard good things about the Lister so hope it goes well.

@Ivfhoper I'm so glad the setraline is helping and that CRGH was good. It is so hard not to be anxious during all of this so it's great to find something that helps.

@IslandStars am so pleased your lining is looking good! That's great news and Wednesday isn't long at all!

I've been going back and forth about the ERA test. I'm just so desperate to get going with the transfer and DP and I are at breaking point. The ERA delays us another month and I'm not sure our relationship can take it tbh. My history doesn't suggest implantation failure as I've had two successful implantations (DD and miscarriage) and it's most likely my recent failed IVF was down to egg quality. But it's so hard to decide whether not doing it is a silly risk to take or whether it makes sense.

Also I had my 3D saline scan on Wednesday and found it really painful and quite upsetting. I'm still in pain. If we don't do the ERA then I need to do my Emma, Alice, NK biopsy on Tuesday and the thought of doing that type of procedure again so soon is quite daunting!!!

I'm not sure I'm really looking for advice just airing my thoughts really.

Did those of you who have done them find Emma/Alice biopsy painful? It was the catheter passing into my uterus that I found awful in the scan - I've never had a problem with transfers (never even felt it!)

Xxx